1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of this invention relate generally to rollers, and more particularly to window rollers.
2. Description of Related Art
There are many types of door and window roller assemblies available in the marketplace currently. However, all such known assemblies require manual adjustment of the roller wheels or otherwise involve relatively complex components to allow for different height and thus clearance positions. The purpose of such door and window rollers is to allow the door or window sliding sash to roll or slide smoothly from side to side in a track. Such roller assemblies may include one, two, or three or more wheels, some being made of brass or nylon or other materials, some having ball bearings, and some being solid. These wheels are then typically installed in a rigid cartridge that has more than one positioning slot per wheel. In the case of window sashes that do not slide properly, for example, the sash must be removed, these wheels removed and reinstalled in different pre-slotted positions that will raise or lower the wheel as needed, and the sash then replaced within the window frame. Further steps may include the removal and replacement of the cartridge or carrier in which the one or more wheels are installed, in addition to removing and replacing the wheel(s) within the carrier. Or, instead of placing the wheels in different slots once they or the carrier they operate in are removed, the relative height adjustment of the wheels may be manually made by screws, cams, etc. The non- or poor-sliding operation of a door or window necessitating the kind of adjustment described above is often brought about due to a variety of conditions such as the doors or windows being manufactured out of square or being installed out of square relative to the frame, movement of the frame after installation and use due to normal “wear and tear,” settling of the structure in which the door or window is installed, or ground movement, or the accumulation of dirt, dust and/or debris in the door or window frame or window sash track.
The following art defines the present state of this field:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,237,238 to Anderson is directed to roller assemblies for movable closure members such as sliding doors and, more particularly, to roller assemblies mountable on the door for adjustment relative thereto to square the door in its frame opening and adjust the clearances at the edges of the door. The exemplary roller assembly is adapted to be mounted adjacent the lower edge of a sliding door and including at least one roller for engaging a track which supports and guides the door for back and forth movement between open and closed positions in an opening in the frame. Usually two such roller assemblies are spaced apart along the lower edge of the door with one adjacent each upright edge of the door. Each roller assembly is mounted on a frame in the form of a case recessed into the lower door edge in a pocket with the roller supported within the case on a carrier. The carrier is mounted and supported in the case for quick and easy adjustment of the level of each roller relative to the door to effect the squaring and height adjustment. To this end, the assembly includes co-acting cam and follower elements on the carrier and on the case operable upon movement of the cam to shift the carrier downwardly or upwardly in the case. The cam is movable by manually operable means easily accessible from the side of the door in all positions of the latter, and the cam and follower are shaped to shift the carrier step by step in each direction by predetermined increments and to hold the carrier securely but releasably in each selected position.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,696,560 to Hallin is directed to a movable panel supported in a frame for horizontal travel, said panel mounting a movable structure for limited horizontal movement therein and defining horizontally spaced and oppositely inclined planes, and an insert rigidly mounted in said panel and defining plane engaging surfaces adapted to engage said planes for relative movement equally up and down proportional to the relative horizontal movement of said movable structure and the fixed insert.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,996,643 to Steigerwald is directed to a roller wheel assembly for a sliding closure having a wheel unit which is supported in a frame for vertical motion relative thereto when the assembly is installed in the closure. Means in the form of a wedge assembly which engages sloped surface means in the wheel unit are provided to vertically adjust the wheel unit relative to the track. The wedge assembly is adjusted sidewise by means of a screw assembly which is operated from the side of the frame. This causes wedge shaped surfaces of the wedge assembly to ride along the sloped surface means to afford a continuous and precise vertical adjustment of the wheels.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,194,266 to Natzel is directed to an adjustable roller mechanism for a sliding closure having a case attachable to the sliding closure and a roller-mounting bracket mountable thereon for adjustable movement to varying positions extending from the case. A smooth surfaced cam is rotatably mounted to control the adjusted position of the roller bracket and a modified planocentric gear assembly operable by manually rotating a mounting shaft provides a gear reduction drive for rotation of the cam and for automatically locking the cam in any rotative position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,262,451 to Dallaire is directed to a roller assembly which is adapted to be snapped into and out of a channel of a sliding frame closure which device is used to adjust the effective height of the closure relative to an aperture frame in which it is installed. The roller assembly or device comprises an outer stationary frame member having a pair of correspondingly positioned canted slots formed therein and means provided on the outer frame member to permit frictional and mechanical engagement of the assembly within the channel of the sliding frame closure; an inner frame member adapted to be mounted within the outer frame member and having at least one roller wheel fixedly mounted therein for rotation about its axis; the inner frame member being mounted for vertical movement within the outer frame member by means of a transverse pin which extends through the canted slots of the outer frame member; the inner frame member being secured by adjustment means to the outer frame member such that on tightening of the adjustment means, the transverse pin secured through the inner frame member slides down the canted slot moving the roller wheel vertically downward and reverse movement occurs on loosening of the adjustment means. Also described is the combination of at least one of the roller assemblies and a sliding frame closure.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,018,263 to Stem is directed to a one-piece sealed, hollow, steel sliding screen door frame and method of fabrication thereof. A flat steel strip is diecut to produce 45° miter cuts, each having an opposing flap. The cut strip is rolled to produce a frame stock having an essentially rectangular profile. Longitudinal edges of the strip are folded together, crimped and bonded during the rolling and form a screen channel in the frame stock. The frame stock is bent at right angles at the miter cuts such that the flaps tuck under the miter cuts, forming a rectangular door frame. Epoxy is used to bond the flaps to the inner surfaces adjacent the miter cuts. A screen door assembled using the door frame includes self-centering wheel assemblies.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,287,655 to Harvey is directed to a sliding panel that includes a frame having top, bottom and side members. Expanders rotatably supporting rollers are partially disposed within the top and bottom members and are displaceable against spring tension inwardly and outwardly of said members. Clips are provided for retaining the expanders partially disposed within the top and bottom members and for limiting the outward displacement of the expanders. The arrangement described provides self-leveling of the rollers along the entire width of the panel.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,343,594 to Harvey is directed to a sliding panel that includes top, bottom and side members. A corner roller arrangement has integral corner keys, whereby a corner member abuts the ends of the panel members at each of the corners thereof. Each of the corner members includes a spring biased roller whereby the rollers are self-leveling at each of said corners. A clip is arranged to adjust the roller to a plurality of inwardly and outwardly extensions relative to the top and bottom panel members. The arrangement is such that the corner members are effective as an installation guide for the sliding panel and impart an anti-rattle feature thereto.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,791,089 to Prevot et al. is directed to a rolling device for a sliding leaf (2) of a door or window and having a slide (7) aimed at being accommodated in the slit (24) provided for in the lower edge (23) of a profile (4) defining the lower rail (3) of the leaf (2), this slide (7) resting against a metallic reinforcement (6) or a horizontal wall (44) located in the inner portion (5) of the profile (4). The slide (2) is also provided with a hooking-in member (27, 28), cooperating with the transversal edges (29, 30) of the slit (24), defined by a horizontal rim (31) at the level of its transversal ends (17, 17A), at least one horizontal rim (31) being subjected to springy restoring member (33) allowing to withdraw the hooking-in member (27) in order to allow the passing through, by snapping in, of this latter, and its removal, the hooking-in member (27, 28) being completed by a retaining member (47) capable of vertically immobilizing the rolling device (1) in the slit (24) of the profile (4).
U.S. Pat. No. 6,021,547 to Stagoll is directed to an adjustment mechanism for adjusting a support means such as wheels (5a, 5b) relative to a housing structure (2, 3) retaining said wheels (5a, 5b), the adjustment mechanism including a screw member (7) selectably movable in a direction (22) transverse to the intended adjusting movement direction (6) of said wheels (5a, 5b), the movement of said screw member (7) acting to move an adjustment member or members (9, 9a, 9b) in a direction perpendicular to said directions (6) and (22) with movement of said adjustment member or members causing movement of said wheels (5a, 5b) in said adjusting movement direction (6).
U.S. Pat. No. 6,026,612 to Strassel et al. is directed to an apparatus having a sliding leaf, a slide member, at least two rail wheels mounted on respective spindles, a mounting mechanism affixed to the slide member and extending in a direction perpendicular to a plane of the sliding leaf, and fixing lugs affixed to and extending outwardly from a lower edge of the slide member at respective ends of the slide member. The slide member is a casing having two sets of recesses. The recesses in each set of recesses increase in height from a center of the casing to a respective end of the casing. The recesses in each set extend from the lower edge of the casing towards an upper wall of casing. The spindles have ends received by respective recesses of the two sets of recesses. The recesses have a narrowing so as to lock onto a respective end of the spindles. The casing is secured in a slot formed in a lower edge of the sliding leaf. The mounting mechanism enables the casing to rock within the slot. The mounting mechanism is a boss interposed between a bottom of the slot and the upper wall of the casing. The fixing lugs are formed of a flexible and spring material. The fixing lugs are affixed to the lower edge of the sliding leaf.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,526,625 to Becken is directed to a wheel or roller assembly for a patio door or the like comprising a carriage having two parallel spaced side plates and a pair of grooved wheels mounted within the carriage that provide for the self adjustment of the roller wheels as while the wheels are adjusted. Also, while the roller wheels are being adjusted, the assembly provides an enhancement that will prevent the wheels from rocking out of level orientation in the full wheels up position.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,681,445 to Huang is directed to a pulley set that includes a base, a seat, and an adjusting unit, wherein the base defines a hollow space with one side of the hollow space forming a vertical wall having a screw hole and the other side of the hollow space forming an inclined wall. A guiding plane parallel to the inclined wall extends from the vertical wall, and positioning slots are respectively formed in the guiding plane and the inclined wall. The seat is mounted within the hollow space of the base and has two inclined planes corresponding to the inclined wall and the guiding plane. The adjusting unit is disposed in the screw hole of the base for pushing against the seat such that adjusting the adjusting unit will cause the seat to move along the inclined wall and the guiding plane of the base.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0017065 to Hutnik et al. is directed to a door roller system. The door roller system comprises a first housing including at least one generally vertical side member having at least one slot; a base slidably coupled to the first housing and having at least one projection that extends at least partially through the slot; and at least one wheel coupled to the base. The projection on the base is configured to slide within the slot on the first housing as the base is moved relative to the first housing.
The prior art described above teaches an adjustable roller assembly, an adjustable aligning apparatus for movable panels, a roller wheel assembly for a sliding closure, an adjustable roller mechanism, a roller assembly for a sliding frame closure, a method for making a metal screen door frame, a roller arrangement for sliding panels, a corner roller arrangement for sliding panels, a rolling device for a sliding leaf of a door window or the like, a door adjustment mechanism, a rolling device having a plurality of recesses for adjusting a level of a sliding leaf, an enhanced performance tandem roller for patio doors, a pulley set for doors and windows, and a door roller system, but does not teach a self-adjusting window roller apparatus and method of use. Aspects of the present invention fulfill these needs and provide further related advantages as described in the following summary.